At WrestleMania 42, it was a mighty defeat for CM Punk, who lost his then WWE World Heavyweight Championship to “The OTC” Roman Reigns. Up until two weeks ago, “The Best within the World” was absent from WWE programming. That absence propelled the floodgates of rumors to widen that he was unhappy in WWE and was venturing back to AEW. Now debunked, the latest Undisputed WWE Champion addresses why he took some break day from the corporate.
“I used to be heavyweight champion over on ‘[WWE] Raw’ for quite a while. And through that entire time I used to be champion, I had at the very least three or 4 those that were very near me pass away. And every time, I used to be at work the subsequent day,” the champion said in his interview with ESPN. “I didn’t speak about it publicly. I showed up, partially, since it helped me, being here amongst my road family and with the ability to connect with the fans on that level, helped me get through it. But there was still some stuff I needed to process.”
Getting back from his reset, Punk tore the roof off the Allstate Arena in Chicago, when he knocked Sami Zayn off from his nine day reign and took home the Undisputed Championship. Now, a former three-time Undisputed Champion wants it back. In lower than every week and a half, Punk will defend his championship at SummerSlam against “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes on the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
If you happen to use any of the quotes in this text, please credit “ESPN” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.